Friday, December 21, 2012

Birding The Gambia Part 2: Bee-eaters

You need a bit of local knowledge and a lot of geographical nounce as well as an element of good luck to see all eight of the Bee-eater species on the Gambian list. Failing this a good guide who knows his birds will do the job. Although we managed to see all eight species there was not always the chance to take decent pictures.

Since publishing this post I have found my photos of Swallow-tailed Bee-eater Merops hirundineus and I have added one of the shots here for the sake of completeness.

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater Merops hirundineus

The first species to be seen was the Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus. First seen down near the Footsteps Eco Lodge as we walked back from the beach. This was to prove quite a common and widespread species. It is a resident in The Gambia and is likely to be seen in any open habitat, often in small groups.

Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus

Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus

We arranged our own flight from Birmingham to Banjul - six hours - and the birding, accommodation and travel were taken care of by the local travel company Hidden Gambia. It was one of their guides, Ebrima Njie, who took us to a couple of known sites for the more difficult species starting with Bansang Quarry on the south side of the river just east of Georgetown. Here is a breeding colony of Red-throated Bee-eaters Merops bulocki. It was stupidly hot and we were well away from any shade as we watched these fantastic birds zip around our heads. Another resident of The Gambia you can track these down at any time of the year if you know where to look.

Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki

Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus was the most frequently encountered of the eight species but mostly in flight. We first saw these feeding over the Abuko Nature Reserve and later I managed a couple of pretty hopeless pictures of a couple of birds at Tanji Bird Reserve on the coast.
We saw quite large numbers of European Bee-eaters in flight whilst cruising east along the Gambia River but I never had a chance to take any photos. Both this species and the Blue-cheeked are Palearctic migrants and December is a good time to see large numbers of both as they over-winter here.

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus

We had pretty good views of Swallow-tailed Bee-eater Merops hirundineus at Abuko and I definitely remember taking pictures of perched individuals...I think! But I'm buggered if I can find any anywhere. So no photos of Swallow-tailed unfortunately. This was perhaps the least frequent and the most overlooked of the Bee-eaters.(Have now found the photos and one heads this post)
Little Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis ,on the other hand, was a lot more regular and widespread and we often saw these hanging around the edges of rice fields from the western coast to the furthest point east that we travelled. This is a partial migrant which heads south during the dry season but many are also residents and stick it out all year. Another stunning Bee-eater!

Little Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis

We didn't see many White-throated Bee-eaters Merops albicollis but occasionally we saw some from the boats on the river and I managed to get a couple of dodgy shots from the boat at Tendaba one evening.
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White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis

This species is different from the others in that it is an intra-African migrant. It breeds further north than The Gambia in Sahel and then moves south during the dry season. Another good reason to visit The Gambia in our winter.

White-throated Bee-eater Merops albicollis

Although all of the Bee-eaters are spectacular birds the most stunning, to my mind, is the Northern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicus and it was a case of saving the best until the last. Ebrima knew of a reliable site for these birds next to a school on the north bank road a mile or so west of Wasu Stone Circle. So it was grab a slice of history and culture at Wasu...OK fine, thanks let's go..and then off to look for Carmine Bee-eaters. What a bird!

Northern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicus

These birds disperse south during the dry season and consequently they can be difficult to find. We met birders who had failed to see these but this site is, apparently, pretty reliable before January.

Northern Carmine Bee-eater Merops nubicus

I could have spent all day watching these birds and taking picture after picture but I had to move on to buy a Fanta!
There are shipping-containers full of bird guides in the Gambia and if you are planning a trip you will have no trouble acquiring one. I would recommend Ebrima and you can contact him prior to any planned visit at birdlifeafrica2002@yahoo.com. He will be pleased to arrange any itinerary for a birding trip. Visit http://www.hiddengambia.com/ for lots of info on The Gambia and a list of their itineraries and holidays.
Kingfishers next then!